Dutch fans fail to understand our team manager

Heeeeerrreee’s Johnny!!! Or better, Johan. Not Cruyff, but Derksen… The most vile, cynical and best informed journo in Holland. And when he starts dipping his pen in vitriol, beware…. Is this the beginning of the end of San Marco? Read it and wheep…

“Marco van Basten looks self assured. Totally in control at press conferences, avoiding critical questions and placing little one-liners in a relaxed fashion. Our team manager never doubts. Well, I don’t believe that. I think van Basten is being torn apart by doubts. As a player, he was bombarded with applause, adoration, compliments and awards. The media and the fans called him San Marco (Saint Marco) and he almost deployed supernatural abilities on the pitch. Marco van Basten never knew criticism. And can you blame him for actually believing he was a Saint?

As a player, he didn’t like the media. He never liked giving interviews, and publicity was something he could do without. And, despite his attitude, he never received any bad press. After his active career, he became a recluse. Lived in this small village outside of Amsterdam and played golf. Through his life long best friend and former team mate Jonh van ‘t Schip, he started to get interested in football again and became Schippie’s assistant at Ajax 2. Not much later, the KNVB approached Cruyff with a job-opening for team manager and the rest is history.
Most people were happy with van Basten as team manager, back in 2004. Including myself. The expectations were high, but he started out doing pretty good. Two years down the track, it seems Johan Cruyff is the only person who still has a blind faith in him. Club coaches give nuanced comments in the press, but off the record most of them admit that they do not understand a thing he is doing.

And the fans have lost the plot some time ago. Great players who have proved themselves at the highest level in Europe are shoved aside for young talents who still need to prove themselves in the Dutch Mickey Mouse competition. The team manager calls up benchwarmers, and allows players to start games who weren’t even part of the group a week earlier on. Players, club trainers, football journo’s and committed fans do not understand these decisions at all.
After two years at the reigns, it seems our national football hero has turned into a pitiful doubter, whom no one takes serious anymore. And we wonder… How did that happen? Are the Oranje fans stupid and ignorant or should we also blame van Basten a little?

Clearly, van Basten underestimated the job. When once asked about his ambitions, he said he never wanted a job that would require him to drive a lot and have him wait in traffic jams. Ajax was ok, as an employer, since his home town is close to Amsterdam. But as a team manager he keeps on avoiding traffic, since we only see him at games at AZ (Alkmaar), Ajax and the city where he was born, Utrecht. Playing the team manager for van Basten means having fun with his mates. He asked his buddy John van ‘t Schip to be his assistant (the only one with real coaching experience) and added Robbie Witschge and Stanley Menzo to his team. All former team mates, and all lacking the experience.

When Marco and his mates are watching, say, AZ vs RKC the big Dutch players are active on different pitches all around Europe. And although you can watch them play on tv later that day, most players highly appreciate it if their team manager takes the trouble to come and see them in real person and maybe even spends some time after the game for a chat and some dinner.

But, San Marco wants to be home for dinner… Menzo recently left the trainers-group and won’t say anything negative about his experience on the record, but it’s a known fact that he left because he couldn’t align himself with van Basten’s selection-policies.
What really bothers me, is the fact that van Basten can’t seem to build relationships with top players. He always says that he selects on the basis of football technical aspects, but he cannot explain to anyone why he selected Denneboom, Sno, Boateng, Bobson, van den Bergh, Opdam, Kromkamp and Yildirim… He wants to play dominant 4-3-3 football, but at the same time deploys wingers who constantly go for the individual action, and hardly cross a good ball into the box. Every center striker seems to fail in Oranje, because of that, being it Makaay, van Nistelrooy (WC2006), Kuyt or even Huntelaar. All these players do pretty good in their club teams.

I do agree that Sneijder and van der Vaart are huge talents. But van Basten failed at the WC when he deployed Sneijder as the defensive midfielder and allowed an unfit van der Vaart to be the playmaker on midfield. And why does he want players to adapt to a 4-3-3 system when basically all teams in Europe play – and are successful – with 4-4-2? It sometimes looks like he builds the team around Denny Landzaat. Now, Landzaat is an ok player, but no leader, no playmaker and no winner.
Furthermore, van Basten says things about players that he himself would never have accepted. Kluivert is still resting on the laurels of his lucky Champions League winning shot. Mark van Bommel allows his opponent to run away from him. Ruud van Nistelrooy should be more involved in the combination-play. Makaay is too passive. And Nicky Hofs is a better player than Seedorf.
But, against Luxembourg, he suddenly needed Seedor. But he didn’t want to call upon this big European star for such a match, so he called Theo Janssen (Vitesse). But, for the friendly against England, Seedorf was in the starting line-up! And Hofs and Janssen were totally neglected. Normally, Sneijder would play and Sneijder himself figured he would too. But he had to hear through a tv interview with San Marco that he was injured…
Henk ten Cate (Ajax coach) had his questions about this, and AZ coach Louis van Gaal couldn’t understand why players like Demi de Zeeuw, who was with the group for most of the post-WC games, was suddenly by-passed.

The surprise solution against England was a bit hard to believe. Rafael van der Vaart – a real lefty – needed to play as a “false right winger”. Again, it seems anything is an option, as long as Denny Landzaat plays on his favorite spot. And the result was, that Dirk Kuyt – phenomenal in Liverpool – played a lousy match. Since there was nothing for him to play with. Two wingers, and no acceptable crosses. It seems van Basten’s gameplan is a sort of never ending story, that is going nowhere. I always feel like I am watching Oranje 2 play. And I wouldn’t be surprised at all, if Marco him self has serious doubts as to why he ever started this adventure.”

Johan Derksen, VI website